


The God, the Actor and the Daughter

by MedieavalBeabe



Category: Loki/Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, Magic, RPF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-18 13:43:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2350451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedieavalBeabe/pseuds/MedieavalBeabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's never easy being part of a family! Especially when one of your parents is a phenomenal actor and the other is the God of Mischief!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home Invasion

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this work: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1091915 by melin_on_asgard; sort of an unofficial sequel, really, involving Loki, Tom and their daughter. (I know I said I wouldn't do RPF again, but here I'm just pretending that Tom is fictional, ok?) This may end up being a one shot or I may make it a collection of one shots - I don't know yet! Anyway, the idea for this one came up when I had a similar situation one day and found myself wondering just how Loki would deal with it. After the actual incident, though, the story sort of ran away with me. 
> 
> (Also, "Far" is Norweigan for "Father.")

She had had a feeling it would happen one day. After all, given that she had been born into this world courtesy of the God of Mischief, or, to use the more accurate description, the second son of King Odin, younger brother of Prince Thor and therefore heir to the Throne of Asgard if his brother remained unmarried and childless forever, well, having her home invaded was surely bound to happen. 

Although, she had expected it to be done by Frost Giants or Dark Elves or dragons or any other evil race that inhabited the Nine Realms. She knew how to deal with them, of course; Loki had been training her in magic and trickery since she was a child, often provoking chagrin and a look of disapproval from Tom, so that by the time she hit fourteen, she was more than prepared for such an attack. 

When it came to a swarm of ordinary Midgardian house flies, however, well, she felt more defeated than a warrior without a weapon. 

“Will you just bugger off?” India exclaimed, taking a swat at them with a rolled up magazine. The thing was, these flies didn’t seem to want to die. They must have more armour than a fully clad knight, because it seemed that each time she hit one, it simply fell to the floor dazed before staggering around a bit, picking itself up and flying off again. It also seemed like for each one she did manage to kill, another six suddenly sprang up from nowhere. 

Where they had all started coming from, she had no idea, although, this being the city of London, she could only presume that something had died outside their building and the carcass was attracting the flies. 

“Out of the kitchen,” she moaned, trying to herd them all back into the living room. She didn’t like insects at the best of times and she certainly didn’t want them near the place she had to make dinner in. She bit back a sigh, remembering that it would be dinner for two tonight. Tom was abroad, filming, and she missed him not being there. Though, she reflected, it did mean she could use magic a bit more than usual. Loki didn’t mind, in fact he generally encouraged it. Tom always said, though, that she shouldn’t use magic for everything, so whenever he was around she tried not to. 

“Hurry up, Far,” she murmured, splattering another fly across the window and grimacing. She was going to have to clean that up later too. The words were barely off her lips when he magicked himself into the room behind her. Inwardly she sighed. At last, reinforcements. 

“What in the name of Heimdall are you doing?” Loki asked.

“We’re being invaded!” Then, indignantly, she turned to him at the sound of him laughing. “It’s not funny!”

With a wave of his hand, Loki froze each of the flies where they were. They dropped to the ground like bullets being emptied from a hand gun. Folding his arms, Loki regarded his daughter with a mixture of amusement and fondness. “Why didn’t you just do that?”

India shrugged. “Dad says I shouldn’t use magic excessively.” Then, with a groan, she flopped into the nearest chair and covered her face with her hands. Today hadn’t been the best of days as it was. She had got into another fight in school with a boy who had dared call her parents’ relationship freakish, and now she had come home to find the house filled with flies that were virtually indestructible. What else was the universe going to throw at her?

Back when she had been in primary school, everyone had accepted her and her family without a second thought, but the second she had hit secondary school they had instantly been denounced as “abnormal.” India, for her part, couldn’t understand what the problem was. Yes, she had two fathers instead of a father and mother like the rest of the kids in her class, and yes, one of them had changed form to give birth to her, but they made it work. There would probably be a number of bumps in the road along the way, there usually were, but what did that matter when they were a family built on love? 

She usually did her best to ignore the jibes, but today Tommy Waters had just got on her nerves so much that she had lashed out; though, thankfully, she had kept her magic under control. If she lashed out with that, the consequences could be dire, which was another reason Tom encouraged her not to use it very often. 

Loki, sensing in the way that parents always do that his child was in need of comfort, quickly perched beside her on the arm of the chair and hugged her. India quickly clung to him, burying her head in his chest. “I miss Dad,” she mumbled. 

“I know,” Loki answered, softly. “I do too.” That sentence didn’t even need saying. India knew that her Far was having trouble sleeping without his lover in bed beside him. She imagined it was the same for her Dad. He gave her a soft pat on the back, causing her to look up at him. “He’ll be back in two weeks. And he’ll phone tonight, like always.”

Nodding, India managed a smile. “Far?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Is it true that when you first met Dad you had no idea how the phone worked?”

Loki grinned at her. “I’m afraid that I didn’t grow up surrounded by electricity on Asgard, so, no, I didn’t know.”

India could believe him. So far she had met her Grandmother Frigga and Uncle Thor on several occasions, although meetings with Grandfather Odin were less frequent. As a child she had been told that it was because he couldn’t be away from ruling Asgard for too long, but now she was old enough to know that Odin’s relationship with his youngest son was strained due to the events that had led up to Loki being banished to Midgard in the first place. Somehow, though, she couldn’t picture her Far as the villain, not knowing the way he was with her and her Dad. At any rate, on each occasion that Frigga and Thor had visited, they had both regarded all forms of Midgardian technology with a mixture of awe and apprehension. 

Uncurling herself from the chair, and feeling cheered already, she skipped off into the kitchen to pop the chicken casserole for two into the oven. Tom had promised to teach her to start cooking properly when he eventually got back from the set. Loki followed her a few moments later and they set about preparing the table and exchanging news of the day with one another, although India decided against telling him about getting into the fight. Maybe she could leave than until after Tom returned. After all, he had just cheered her up after an already rotten day; why spoil it by making him scold her?

As promised, Tom phoned just as she was getting ready for bed. She was halfway into her dark green pyjamas, patterned with gold trim (her father’s colours, she knew) when she heard Loki answer. She lingered a moment, still as a statue, and listened until she was reassured that nothing was wrong before she finished dressing for bed and went to await her turn for the phone. 

When she eventually got it, she felt a rush of relief at hearing Tom’s normal voice again. Part of her worried that being in America too long would result in him coming back to them without the English accent he’d been born with. Thankfully, however, that hadn’t happened yet. 

“How’s my favourite girl?” came her father’s familiar tones down the line.

India grinned. “Same as usual. How’s the film coming?”

“Coming along nicely as far as I can see. Hopefully if all goes well I can get away earlier than planned.”India crossed her fingers for luck. “How was school?”

“We started on Hamlet today.”

“Excellent.” Sometimes India wondered if she had inherited the best things from her parents; magic from Loki and a love of Shakespeare from Tom. At any rate the pair spent the next half hour discussing their favourite scenes and the motivations of most of the characters until eventually India felt herself on the verge of a yawn and reluctantly had to say goodnight. 

“Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, darling. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok, bye.”

Reluctantly India hung up the phone and glanced into the living room. Loki had long since cleared the carpet of frozen flies. She went and sat in Tom’s favourite chair and closed her eyes, hoping that the director would speed along the filming so that her Dad would be back with them in no time. She was, of course, used to his work taking him away from home for long periods of time, and she understood why it happened, but she did miss him when he was away. It just always felt so strange, his absence, not waking up to him and Loki together at the breakfast table, the picture of domestic bliss, or hearing them bicker over something trivial like taking out the rubbish or something, just little things like that, she missed. 

When Loki found her a few moments later, she was curled up fast asleep in Tom’s chair, dreaming about seeing him again. He couldn’t hide the smile as he picked her up to take her to bed. Sometimes he still couldn’t get over being a father; after all, when he and Tom had first got together it hadn’t been something he had ever considered. But now, well, he had to be one of the proudest parents in the whole of Midgard. Of course, it wasn’t always easy. Life had its ups and downs, especially with a daughter who often got into fights to defend her parents’ honour in school. Yes, he knew she’d been in one today; he could just tell, as parents often can. But he decided against scolding her. 

That could wait until Tom was back.


	2. The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when it snows in London? Well, for one family, it can only mean one thing...

London always looked lovely in the snow, and today was no exception. Of course, the winter months were a particular favourite for the daughter of a Jotunheim Prince. And now that school was finally over, she was certain that a snow day in Hyde Park was imminent. 

“Coat!” Tom reprimanded her as she ran to the door. 

“Da-ad!”

Tom folded his arms and gave her “The Look,” which always worked. India sighed but did as she was told, pulling her black and red duffle from the peg behind the door. Though she always insisted that she couldn’t feel the cold that much, just like her Far, Tom never liked her to take any chances. After all, in spite of him never actually having visited Jotunheim, he was certain that nothing could be colder than a winter spend outdoors in the United Kingdom. 

Loki rolled his eyes as she made a show of tying her scarf for Tom’s benefit. “She’s not going to catch a chill. You’re worrying too much.”

“You might not mind losing our daughter to hypothermia, but I do,” Tom replied, shortly, tying his own scarf firmly around his neck. 

“Dad, I don’t get ill like everyone else here,” India reminded him, adjusting her hat, which she was wearing more as a fashion choice than to keep the cold at bay. It was true. In her entire life, she had never had so much as a Misgard cold, although she had once caught an Asgard fever from Thor when that was going around – Thor and Frigga, of course, not realising they were carrying it at the time. That had been rather scary but she had come through it. Nevertheless it had shaken Tom, as often happens to parents when their child catches an unfamiliar illness and since then he had been very conscious of her health.

“Well I don’t want you taking any chances,” he replied fondly, cupping her face. 

India laughed, lightly, and then hugged him. In her heart she knew that he only fussed because he cared, but she felt she had to protest on principal. Even so, she kept her coat, hat and scarf on, although she left her gloves off, the argument being that the snow would only soak them anyway and then her hands would be twice as cold, as the trio left the stillness of their house and walked straight into a whirlwind of dancing snowflakes. 

“It’s like being inside a snowglobe,” Tom muttered, turning up the collar of his coat. 

Loki grinned, taking it all in his stride. Going without a coat or even a cloak in such weather naturally earned him some stares from passersby, but he had long ago learned to live with that. India, for her part, had to restrain herself from skipping like a child as they made their way to the park. She had always loved the snow. Loki had promised to show her Jotunheim one day, when she was older, providing that he could get permission to use the Bifrost, but for now she was content with Midgard snow. When no one was looking, she caused the falling flakes to swirl into amusing patterns and shapes with her magic; a trick she had always loved. 

When they got to Hyde Park, it was deserted; just a great blanket of snow stretching towards a frozen pond. India wished that they could have kept the fountain going; it would have looked amazing frozen in motion, like a great ice sculpture. She smiled. Back when she was younger, her parents had joined her in making snowmen in the back garden (or “Snow Warriors” as Loki had put it, “Otherwise what’s the point of building people out of snow?”) and then Snow Angels on the ground, but now she felt too old for either of those activities. 

That only left one. 

Quickly sweeping a handful of snow off the back of a bench, she balled it up and flung it at Tom. It caught him in the small of the back, and he spun around at once. “What was that for?”

India gave a shrug of mock innocence. “Fun!”

Loki laughed. Tom glanced at him and then quickly shut him up by throwing another snowball at his chest. Loki adopted a look of mock annoyance and Tom immediately regretted his action as suddenly a dozen snowballs came his way without Loki having even raised a finger. India had to duck to avoid being hit too, and then suddenly they were all it, snowballs flying left, right and centre, spattering to powder each time they hit anyone, or hit a forcefield shield thrown up in the nick of time. 

“Hey!” Tom laughed. “No using magic!”

Neither Loki nor India paid any heed to that rule, however. After all, what was the good of having magic if you couldn’t use it to win a snowball fight? Tom had learned that very quickly after getting together with Loki, and shortly after India had discovered her powers, he had learned that he would always be the loser party in a family snowball fight. 

He suddenly ducked a particularly large one of Loki’s, which shot over his head and straight towards India. But instead of hitting her, it went right through her. Both men dropped their snowballs at once as the image of their daughter vanished. “Indy?” Loki called, suddenly worried. 

Then he was knocked off his feet by a volley of snowballs from behind . Tom laughed as Loki pushed himself up and turned to see India grinning at him. “Ha, ha!” 

He raised his eyebrows, brushing snow off his sleeves. “You dare use my own tricks against me, daughter?”

India shrugged, playfully. “Well, if you didn’t want me to learn, you shouldn’t have taught me, Far mine.”

Tom grinned. “She has a point.”

Loki chuckled. “I didn’t realise I’d taught you so well.” Then India let out a shriek as a cascade of snow from tree branch above her suddenly tumbled down on top of her. Loki smirked. “But just because I taught you everything you know doesn’t mean I taught you everything I know.”

“That’s not fair!” India groaned, shaking snow out of her collar, automatically. Loki laughed until he was pelted with another snowball. By this time people were beginning to walk through the park on their way home from work. Several of them stopped to stare at the sight of the two men and the young teenager in the middle of a snowball fight. India even heard one woman mutter some disapproving remark and was tempted to throw a snowball at her too, just to shut her up. After all, what was wrong with a family having a snowball fight in public? Snow was there to be played in, and with, after all. 

“Come on,” Tom laughed, finally, when it seemed like they had used up all the available snow within reach. “It’s getting dark.”

“I’m not cold,” India protested, although her arms were getting tired from hefting snowballs and her clothes were soaked from being hit so many times. 

“Well, I am,” Tom replied, putting an arm around her. “And you’re wet through.”

Loki squeezed the ends of his sleeve and grimaced as melted snow dripped from it. “Maybe you’re right.” Snow was one thing but running around in wet clothes was another completely. 

India sighed, dramatically, and dropped the snowball she was holding. “Fine! Hey, have we got any cocoa?”

“Plenty,” Tom informed her as they began to wend their way out of the park gates. 

Perked up by the prospect of a hot drink by the fire, India all but skipped back up the road as she led the way back home. Loki sighed, falling behind with Tom. “When did she suddenly grow up?”

“I know,” Tom agreed. “It seemed like only yesterday she was waking us up in the middle of the night for a feed.”

“It was yesterday,” Loki grinned, provoking a laugh from his lover. 

“I was thirsty!” India called to them from the front door. 

Grinning, Tom and Loki followed her inside. India shook snow of her coat and then hurried upstairs to put on something dry, wondering what movie to pick out for them all to watch tonight with their cocoa. 

‘Maybe Frozen,’ she thought, mischievously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd imagine that Frost Giants and their descendants don't feel the cold in the same way as humans, and also that India would have inherited Loki's powers. Of course I couldn't resist throwing a reference to the film Frozen in there somewhere!


	3. Can I Keep Her?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dragon? A hellhound? A horse, even? No; the daughter of Loki and Tom has brought home a stray kitten.

“Domino?”

Nothing. 

“Magpie?”

Nothing.

“Jeeves?”

Tom burst out laughing. “What; are you hoping to train her to be a butler?”

“I was thinking about black and white names,” India replied. 

“Well, I don’t think she likes the sound of it,” Tom replied, kneeling down beside his daughter and the little bundle of black and white fur she had brought in with her. The kitten was playing with a stray thread from the bottom of the sofa, batting at it with miniscule claws, and prompting giggles from India. She had been more than shocked when she had found the tiny thing dumped in a cardboard box next to a litter bin on her way home from school, and even more appalled that anyone could do anything so heartless to something so tiny and vulnerable, and cute. “Anyway, I thought we’d established that she’s a girl.”

India nodded, thoughtfully. “Yeah, I suppose that might give people the wrong message.” She sighed. “Naming things is hard. How did you and Far come up with my name?”

Tom laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Well, we basically came up with two lists; names he liked and names I liked and then compared the two; then settled for the only ones we could agree on, one for a girl and one for a boy.”

India raised her eyebrows. “What would you have called me if I was a boy?”

He laughed again. “Trust me, you don’t want to know! That’s why I was glad you were a girl!”

The kitten, fed up now with the stray thread, made a sudden small pounce forwards and scurried further over the sofa. “Hey!” India dived to the floor and began to root around after her. The kitten stared back at her with large blue eyes and a twitching tail. In a way, she was reminded of her Far. “Come here,” she muttered, reaching out as the kitten danced out of reach. “Come here!”

The kitten mewled in protest as she finally scooped her out and held her in the crook of her arm. “No one’s going to thank you if you mess under there,” India told her, stroking the soft fur. 

Tom looked up as Loki suddenly magicked himself into the room. He couldn’t help rolling his eyes, even though he had long since given up the “You know, there is a door you could use,” argument long before India was even born. He got to his feet as India, still playing with the kitten, hadn’t even noticed his arrival. 

“What exactly is going on?” Loki asked, crouching beside her. 

India looked up at him, brightly. “I found her on the corner by Regents Street.”

“Someone had just dumped her in a cardboard box,” Tom supplied. 

Loki closed his eyes. He could see where this was going. “Please tell me you’re collecting them to make a fur coat or something.”

“Far!” India exclaimed, busy scratching the kitten’s ears. “How can you say that? She’s adorable! And I couldn’t just leave her!”

Loki sensed that he was going to lose this argument anyway, but that didn’t stop him from at least trying to put his foot down. “And where exactly is your new friend going to sleep?”

“In my room,” India replied, quick as a wink. “We’ve already found a box she can sleep in; and an old blanket. That’ll do until we can buy a proper cat bed.”

“We?” Tom put in. “If you want to keep her, she’ll be your responsibility, not ours.”

India sighed. “Fine, until I can buy a proper cat bed, then. And all the other stuff.” She looked up at Loki, with pleading eyes. “Can I keep her? Please?”

Loki shot a glance at Tom. “Was this your idea?”

Tom looked embarrassed. “I may have inadvertently suggested it without knowing I was doing so.”

The kitten suddenly broke free of India and, landing lightly on the floor, began to rub up against Loki’s knees with a contented, deep-throated purr. Tom laughed. “Aw!” India cooed. “She likes you!”

Loki was, of course, more used to animals with a bit more spirit; dragons, hellhounds, horses and the like. Usually the more timid, fluffy creatures repulsed him. But, glancing down at the kitten, as she stretched herself flatter against his leg, walking very delicately on her spindly legs, he had to admit that she was a pretty little thing. A bit like the girl now looking eagerly at him for his approval. 

With a fondness he didn’t show, he picked up the kitten in both hands and held it out to her. “If I find her using the kitchen table as a scratching post-”

“She won’t,” India insisted. “I’ll make sure she knows the difference between them.”

“And you’ll also make sure the only bed she sleeps on is yours?” Loki added. The last thing he wanted was to find his bed-spot usurped by a tiny kitten. 

India nodded, sensing that he was weakening. “Promise! So...can I?”

Her parents exchanged a glance. “Go on, then,” Loki said, finally, getting to his feet. 

India sprang up at once. “Thank you!” Her face a picture of delight, she kissed them both before hurrying out of the room and up the stairs to her own room. 

“Hold on!” Tom called after her. “She still needs a name!”

“I’ve got one!” India turned at the top of the steps and grinned down at them. “I picked it before I even got her home! I just had to get you two to let me keep her! Come on, Chocolate.”

This last was to the kitten as she finally walked into her room, leaving Tom and Loki standing for a second trying to process what had just happened to them. 

“No denying it,” Tom said, finally, shaking his head. “She’s definitely your daughter.”

Loki bit back a laugh. “Perhaps I need to be a bit more forceful when it comes to discipline.”

“I think you discipline her exactly the right amount,” Tom replied. 

Loki shot him a mischievous look that sent shivers down his lover's spine. “I wasn’t talking about India.”


	4. Fighting Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so in Chapter 1, India is said to get into fights with people when they call her parents "abnormal." Well, what happens when a boy she likes insults them?

Why, India had to ask herself, are people such idiots sometimes? 

It had begun as a typically ordinary school day. She had woken up, eaten breakfast in her pyjamas with her Far – her Dad having already left for the theatre by the time either of them were awake, although he had taken the time to kiss them both goodbye and receive their respective sleepy mumblings of “Break a leg” and “Love You” first – showered, pulled on her uniform and then hurtled out of the door to catch the bus before it left. Apart from almost tripping over a very excitable little dog on an extendable leash on her way to the bus stop – she had yelled “Sorry” to the poor chap who owned him over her shoulder as she had gone – and practically collapsing into the first vacant seat with an agonising stitch in her side, alarming a nerd in the year below as she did so, well, it hadn’t really been that different to most other school mornings. 

Pulling out her mobile, she had occupied her time with sending Tom a quick “How’s it going?” text, knowing that he would be taking a breather with everyone else for a bit, and then had engaged herself in text conversation with him until the bus had pulled up outside the school and she had had to, regretfully, end their conversation. Maths followed, and then English, and then a much needed break, spent chatting with her friends in their little corner of the schoolyard, before back in for Art and then PSE and then lunch – made all the more enjoyable by the fact that, for a Norse God, her Far knew how to pack a good lunchbox (she often wondered whether that was to do with his royal heritage; that no daughter of his would be packed off to school with the same quality sandwiches as “the common lot”) – before, finally, the last class of the day, and not one of her particular favourites, IT. 

It wasn’t that she couldn’t work a computer, she could, after all, she had one of her own at home; she just couldn’t see the point of a class that taught about using them. India had always felt that it ought to be one of those things you get taught at home by your parents anyway; like how to use a microwave or a washing machine – school never gave out classes in those. Though she had to stifle a laugh as she remembered the time she had first got her computer and how much of a laugh that had been. For a start, Loki had been completely confused by the thing anyway; having only ever seen Tom’s laptop before now as opposed to an actual computer, and then when they’d been unable to find the instructions in English, at first, well, they had had to settle for the Norwegian option (Loki insisting that that language was what the Asgardians spoke) and it had then transpired that whoever had written them had done a very bad job translating them from English to Norwegian because they didn’t make an ounce of sense. Thankfully Tom had then managed to fish out the English instructions, and all had been well, but the memory still made her laugh. 

At any rate, this had turned out to be one of those all-too-common days when the teacher had allowed them to simply “make use of the computers” for an hour, or, to put it bluntly, play around on the things, and she had spent the majority of the class playing Solitaire and Chess against the machine until the bell had rung. In relief, she had pushed back her chair and snatched her bag up from the floor, and then, as usual, been one of the last to leave as she joined Amy, who was waiting for her outside the door. 

And that was when it had happened. That was when Jack Howe, the new boy from the year above, had started talking to her. 

“Hey up,” Amy muttered to her. “Fittie approaching.”

India rolled her eyes. “He’s in the year above; he won’t talk to us.”

However Jack quickly stopped in front of her with a bold grin. “Hi, it’s India, right?”

“Um, right,” she stammered.

“Later, Indy,” Amy added, nudging her with a wink before she set off again down the corridor. 

“How do you know who I am?” India asked, frowning. “I thought you were in the year above.”

Jack shrugged, casually. “I’ve seen you around. I’m Jack.”

“Nice to meet you,” India replied, still finding it hard to believe that the boy every girl in her class wanted to be with was actually talking to her. Of course her parents always told her that she was beautiful, a mixture of them both with Tom’s hair colour and Loki’s eyes, a perfect hybrid of Asgard and Midgard features, but even so, she had never thought it possible that she was attractive enough to people like Jack Howe. 

“So,” Jack went on, falling into step beside her, “I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out this weekend? Maybe catch a film or something?”

India was about to reply in the affirmative when her phone went off. She checked it and couldn’t help giggling. It was just a text from Loki telling her not to worry if he was absent when she got in because he’d just popped out – she could imagine him literally popping via magic – to get food, but sometimes she couldn’t help feeling that he overdramatized things a little too much. ‘And I thought it was Dad who was the actor, not Far,’ she thought. 

“Um,” she said, glancing up at him and fighting another giggle, “Well, I’d like to, but I’ll have to check with my Dads first. They can get a bit overprotective sometimes; I mean not so much that it’s weird or anything, but you know how parents are sometimes.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “Dads?”

“Mm-hm,” she replied, absently, replying with a quick “Ok” to Loki before putting her phone away – to find Jack looking a bit too startled for her liking. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, all too quickly. “I’ll see you around.”

India watched him walk away, feeling like she’d just been punched as she tried to figure out why he was so freaked out – and then it dawned on her. It was the usual reason; the reason she usually got into fights in school, the reason that people sometimes called her family “abnormal” or even “freakish;” the fact that they were just frightened by what they didn’t understand. 

Anger suddenly filled her and she found herself charging forwards before she could stop herself. Managing to maintain her magic, but not her temper, however, she gave Jack such a shove from behind that he stumbled forwards six steps before he actually fell flat on his face, causing everyone surrounding him to spin around at once, in shock and bewilderment. And then, upon seeing that it was India who had lost her temper once again, they all waited with baited breath, ready to start chanting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” at the next sign of violence.

“Jesus!” Jack exclaimed, pushing himself up and rounding on her. “What the-?”

“How dare you?” India cried, her voice reverberating off the walls in her anger. “How dare you judge my family like that? I saw that look of disgust in your eyes just now! What gives you the right to look down on them like that! Granted, we might not be what you think counts as “normal” but the bottom line is, we are a family and we love each other! And that’s all that matters! You know, I’m the only person in that IT class who doesn’t come from a broken home! I’m not abused! I’m not mistreated! I’m not dictated to or controlled, like most people here! I’m just loved! And do you know why that is? It’s because I have two caring parents willing to sacrifice anything for me, just like I would for them! It might not be what you think is “normal” but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong! The point is, it works for us, and if you can’t handle that, well, then it’s your loss, not mine!” Taking a deep breath, she added, for good measure, “So you should just get over yourself!”

Spinning about on her heel, she all but marched from the corridor and out into the yard where she knew Amy was waiting for her. “Hey, how’d it go?” Her best friend’s smile slipped as she saw that India looked far from happy. “Not good?”

India sighed. “Aims, you don’t think there’s anything wrong with me having two fathers and no mother, do you?”

“Indy, I’ve always been more concerned that one of them’s a God, never mind that you have two of them,” Amy laughed, supportively, which provoked a smile from India. Amy was a real boon sometimes. They had been friends since they were three years old, and her parents had readily accepted Loki and Tom’s relationship without a second thought, so to Amy, the concept had never been strange; it had just been the way things always were, in her view. “Anyway,” she added, falling into step beside her best friend, “my Mum always says that your two Dads are maternal enough for you without you needing a mother figure in your life, so it works out just fine.”

India grinned at her. “I love your mother; you know that?”

Amy laughed and linked arms with her. “Aw, I’m sorry he turned out to be such a jerk. But trust me, he’s not worth your tears. Hey, listen, why don’t we grab Ollie and Ben and go for a hot chocolate on the way home? Would that cheer you up?”

“It would, actually,” India agreed, deciding that Amy was right. If a boy couldn’t handle the concept of a girl having two parents of the same sex, well, then, he just wasn’t worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Don't worry, though; like Amy, India's other friends Ollie and Ben have never had a problem with her family either; they're very supportive BFFs!)


	5. "That's My Girl."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All India wanted was to choose a DVD while her parents were getting takeaway. However the evening didn't quite turn out the way she expected it to.

So much for a quiet night in!

It was something of a routine once in a while for them to have one. Usually it would mean going out to get a takeaway, picking Tom up en-route from the theatre and then watching a film whilst eating. On this occasion, however, Loki found himself going it alone, since India wanted to stay and keep an eye on the kitten. After reassuring him that she would be fine on her own, India scooped the tiny cat up in her arms and padded into the kitchen. “Come on, Chocolate,” she said. “Let’s get the plates out.”

“I don’t want to find any cat hair on them!” Loki called before he left. 

India giggled and dropped Chocolate onto the kitchen chair, where she began to wash her face, delicately. Pulling out the plates, India arranged them on the coffee table and then went back to bring Chocolate into the living room. “What film should we watch tonight?” she mused, knowing that it would probably be something from the vast collection of Shakespeare DVDs in the cabinet. It usually was. 

“Not Titus Andronicus,” she reminded herself, though. Their copy of that was rather gory and even though they all knew that it was just fake blood and guts, it had certainly put them all off their dinner the last time they had watched it. Running her fingers along the DVD cases, she recited the names of them softly to herself, finally narrowing it down to Tom and Loki’s respective favourites – Hamlet, starring Kenneth Brannagh and King Lear, starring Ian McKellan. To India’s mind they were both great films, so she didn’t really care which they picked. 

She was about to pull both out, too distracted to feel the pulse of the Bifrost behind her, when Chocolate suddenly made an agitated hissing sound beside her. 

“What is it, girl?” India asked, turning her head, and then with a sudden gasp she stumbled against the cabinet in shock. Two men she had never seen before in her life stood in the centre of the room. They were built like mountains, tall and muscular, and she quickly recognised their clothing, tattered as it was in places, and filthy, as Asgardian. Judging by the broken shackles they also wore they had recently been imprisoned there, and judging by the weapons they wielded, they were extremely dangerous. 

“Hello, Princess,” one of them leered at her. 

“Who are you?” India asked, trying not to feel afraid, and trying at the same time to remember what her Far had taught her about self-defence. Tom had been reluctant to encourage such lessons until Loki pointed out that he had enemies who might want to try and use their daughter against him; upon which Tom had promptly encouraged him to teach her. 

The other laughed, a scratchy tone. “You can call us Amund and Hjalmar, Your Highness; not that you’ll be doing much talking, mind you.”

At the motion of the two men drawing their swords, Chocolate took off at once, up the stairs and into the safety of her mistress’ bed. India felt panic rise in her. “Look,” she said, trying to sound as brave as her Grandmother in the face of danger, “I think you’d better leave now if you know what’s good for you.”

“Just grab her and let’s go,” the scratchy toned man, Amund, hissed to Hjalmar, who advanced on her. Panicking, India threw out her hands and her magic lashed out, freezing the two men instantly where they stood. Then, trembling all over, she fell to her knees, muttering “Oh, my Gods,” over and over again as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. 

This time she felt the pulse of the Bifrost and when she looked up, she jumped, violently. “Jesus, Uncle Thor!”

Thor ignored the two men frozen in ice and walked swiftly up to crouch next to her. “You alright?” he asked, gently, helping her to her feet. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” India replied, even though she was still shaking. “What’s going on?”

Thor turned back to the frozen men and grinned, impressed. “Well, I was coming to help you, but it looks like you took care of things by yourself.”

India sank into the nearest chair. “So...who are they?”

“Two prisoners who slipped the guards while they were being transferred between cells,” Thor answered. “I guess they decided to try and buy their freedom by taking you prisoner.”

India shuddered. “Nice.”

Thor lay a hand on her shoulder. Though there were times he often questioned his feelings towards his brother, he, like so many Asgardians, couldn’t help loving his niece. She was a delight to everyone who knew her – “The favoured one of the Gods,” Odin would sometimes joke – which was why he always made sure that Heimdall kept a special watch on her from the Bifrost Bridge. The second he had learned where they had gone, he hadn’t wasted any time; he had simply ordered Heimdall to open the Bifrost again and come straight here. Now he scolded himself inwardly for having worried so much. After all, she was Loki’s daughter, and if she couldn’t take care of herself, then no one could. He knew that Loki would have sensed by now that something was wrong, and would be racing back to the house as fast as he could, and he made a mental note to have words with his father about tightening security for prisoners of Asgard if they could escape so easily like this. 

“They wouldn’t have hurt you,” he stated, kindly. “Just used you as leverage to escape being imprisoned.”

“Far always worried that something like that might happen,” India replied, patting his hand. “I just never believed him until now.”

The front door suddenly burst open as Loki and Tom came hurtling into the room. Tom was at her side in an instant, checking her over. “Sweetie, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” India insisted, though she quickly hugged him, tightly, in relief. 

Loki turned murderous eyes on the two frozen convicts and then glanced at his brother. “What happened?”

“These two escaped from Asgard by tricking Heimdall into opening the Bifrost,” Thor reeled off, indicating the two with his hammer. 

“Then it looks like Asgard needs to up its security!” Loki snapped. 

Thor nodded, grimly. “Well, they won’t get away from us a second time.”

“They’d better not.” Loki glanced at his daughter and his lover, still locked in firm embrace. Thor followed his gaze and knew what he was thinking. If anything happened to either of them, there was no way that Loki would ever be able to go on. 

He smiled. “I think you’ll find India’s more than capable of taking care of herself. She took on these two single handed and won. You taught her well, brother.”

“Was there ever a doubt?” Loki replied, smiling a bit himself, with pride. 

Thor laughed and then held up his hammer, signalling for the Bifrost to reopen as he laid a hand on the frozen figures. He nodded at them all, a goodbye signal, and then, in a burst of rainbow light, he, and the prisoners, were gone. 

“Hamlet or King Lear?”

Tom glanced at her. “Sorry?”

“Which one do you want to watch?” Now that her fears of being kidnapped and held to ransom were over, India was more than ready to watch a film and eat. “I narrowed it down to those two.”

Springing up, she scurried over to the cabinet to pull them out. Tom followed her and spun her about to face him. “Indy, you just got attacked by two Asgard prisoners.”

She shrugged, casually. “I had things well in hand. They underestimated the daughter of a Jotunheim Prince.”

Loki grinned at her. “That’s my girl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do think that even if Thor and Loki couldn't be close as brothers again, Thor would love a child of his brothers no matter what.


	6. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because even the daughters of Gods get ill some days!

It was a fact universally acknowledged that Asgardians were immune to all forms of Midgard illness, although they were susceptible to illnesses from Asgard and other Realms. But living on Midgard, neither Loki nor India worried about such a thing.

Although, India had to admit that when she woke up one morning feeling slightly faint, she was a bit concerned. But as it soon passed and she went through her usual morning routine of breakfasting, showering, dressing an catching the bus to school without incident, she quickly forgot about the problem. The fact she felt a little warmer than usual during the first two classes didn’t bother her either; she put it down to the warm weather. Though her friends were quick to notice that she looked a little warmer than usual.

“You ok?” Ollie asked at break. “You’re looking a little flushed.”

“I’m fine, really,” India insisted, fanning herself. “It’s just the heat.”

“Yeah, this is Indy we’re talking about,” Ben pointed out. “She never gets sick.”

“Exactly,” she agreed, although she couldn’t deny it was weird. She was beginning to feel that she was burning up, even though it was a fairly mild spring day. Soon she could feel the heat rising as she made her way to History with Amy, the boys being in a different classroom to them, and suddenly a feeling of light-headedness washed over her.

“Indy, you ok?” asked Amy, concerned.

“No, I don’t think I am,” India replied, and then she felt the world wash away in a sea of blackness.

“India!” Amy cried, alerting several other students and teachers. “Someone get the nurse!”

She found herself woken suddenly by a bout of nausea in the nurse’s office. Without warning, and in a rather unladylike way, she threw up over the side of the bed, feeling shivers racking her body. “Sorry,” she gasped.

“It’s alright, love,” the nurse replied, quickly cleaning up after her before taking her temperature again. She frowned. “Hm. Sorry to say this, dearie, but I just have no idea what this might be. I think we’ll have to call the hospital.”

“No,” India gasped, holding her stomach, which felt like it was on fire. “Call my Far. He’ll know what it is.”

“Sweetie, he’s not a doctor.”

“I know, but he’ll know what it is. Trust me.”

The nurse looked apprehensive but did as she was bid anyway, dialling the number India reeled off for her and then finding herself unceremoniously cut off no sooner had she mentioned that India was ill. India rolled her eyes, knowing it would only be a matter of seconds before he would magic himself into the school rather that do what her Dad would do and make his way over as quickly as possible by car.

As usual, she was right, as the door swung open and Loki hurried up to her. “Fa-ar,” India moaned, although it was passed off as being a moan of pain rather than annoyance. She loved both her parents to bits but she was sometimes irritated by the way they fussed over her like she was still a child.

“How did-?” the nurse exclaimed.

Loki glanced at her. “I was close by anyway.”

“Oh. But I thought I phoned your home-”

“What happened?” Loki asked of his daughter, ignoring the nurse completely.

“I fainted in the corridor and I was sick just now,” India groaned, taking his hand and pressing it to her forehead. “Look, I’m burning up.”

Loki nodded. He knew what this was, and thankfully, it wasn’t fatal. “Right. I’m taking you home.”

“No, I don’t think that’s such-” the nurse began.

“Far,” India muttered, urgently. With a wave of his hand, the nurse was rendered slumped into the nearest chair, before Loki picked up his daughter and magicked them both into her room. India had never been so pleased to see her bed in her life. “My stomach feels like someone put a match in it,” she muttered, clambering on top of the sheets. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Forferdelig sykdom.”

“Say what, now?”

Loki grinned, sitting down beside her. “Roughly translated, it’s what Tom would call “stomach bug,” I believe, only a bit more extreme. But it won’t kill you.”

“Want a bet?” India sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“Do you still feel sick?” Loki asked.

“No.” Then, sitting up abruptly, she added “Yes!”

“Deep breaths,” Loki advised before hurrying to get a bowl. He watched her, stroking her hair as she suffered again. “Sorry to say there’s no cure; you’re just going to have to wait it out.”

India took a shuddering gasp as he passed her a glass of water. “Let’s hope you don’t catch it from me,” she joked, feebly. “Dad’ll be stuck nursing two of us then!”

“I don’t think he’d mind that,” Loki whispered, mischievously in her ear, prompting a giggle from his daughter. “Now let’s try and get your temperature down.”

By the time Tom got in, after hurriedly leaving the theatre upon receiving Loki’s call, India had changed from her school uniform into a pair of summer pyjamas with short sleeves and legs, had thrown up six more times and was lying on her back in bed with a wet flannel over her forehead. Chocolate had come purring up to her, wanting a fuss, and had had to settle for curling up near her mistress’s ankles, her tail tickling as it flicked from side to side in rhythm with her purrs.

“Hey, Dad,” India murmured, removing the flannel from her forehead.

“Hey, sweetie,” he murmured back, kissing the top of her head. “How are you feeling?”

“Achy, but not like I was this morning. I haven’t been sick in a while.”

“That’s good.” Tom sat down beside her, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Chocolate came up to him and received the same treatment. India bit her lip. “Dad, I have a confession.”

“What?”

“I didn’t feel well when I got up. I know, I know, I should have said-”

“Why didn’t you?” Tom asked with a concerned sigh.

India shrugged. “I don’t like it when you guys fuss too much.”

“We fuss exactly the right amount, I think you’ll find,” Loki replied, coming back into the room with the now washed out bowl. “There’s no such thing as fussing too much.”

“So go on then, Doctor Loki,” grinned Tom. “What’s your verdict?”

“Hm,” Loki teased back, pretending to consider as he felt her forehead again. “I think she’s strong enough to pull through it.” India managed a smile and ducked out of the way of his hand, playfully. “Until she does, it looks like she’s got the rest of the day off school.”

India sighed. “Pity. I was looking forward to lunch. You made my favourite sandwiches again.”

This, of course, provoked laughs from the two men and, as India scratched Chocolate’s ears for her, she mused that perhaps getting ill in this family wasn’t such a bad thing. Not when her parents made for great nurses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Forferdelig sykdom" means "Terrible Sickness" in Norweigan


	7. Kitchen Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> India tries to make a special breakfast for a special day; however thanks to a very cheeky kitten, things don't quite go the way she planned!

India was on a mission. And it required stealth. Stealth and silence. One wrong move and the whole operation could be in jeopardy. 

Quietly she pushed the duvet off her legs in the light of the new day and picked up her kitten. “Come on, Chocolate,” she whispered, “and be quiet.” 

Slipping silently out of bed, she opened the door as quietly as she could manage and then decided that sliding down the banister was a quieter option than taking the stairs – the two bottom steps had a tendency to creak under even the slightest amount of pressure. Chocolate mewled in alarm, however, and India shot her head upwards, listening for any signs of her parents stirring. Finding none, she quickly soothed and quietened her pet before padding into the kitchen and dropping her softly onto the nearest chair. 

“Now please keep quiet,” she hissed, reaching for the book on the top shelf. It would be her first time doing this on her own, and she was nervous. The last thing she wanted was for her parent to come in early and find the kitchen a mess. Even so, she tried to calm herself by muttering the names of the ingredients as she fished in the fridge and cupboards for them, having made sure they was well stocked the day before. 

“Eggs,” she muttered, pulling them out. “Flour. Milk. Sugar. Salt. Syrup.”

She frowned at the tin she had just pulled out and sighed. “Oh, honestly; when I said we needed syrup, I did actually mean Maple, not Golden.”

Well, she figured, it could still work. Syrup was syrup, and people sometimes preferred the Golden kind on their pancakes. Actually, she reflected, it seemed rather more appropriate than Maple – gold was one of her Far’s colours, after all. 

“And butter,” she muttered, finally, arranging all the ingredients on the counter to measure them out. This was the bit she worried about with baking, getting the ingredient measurements exactly right, even with a set of electronic scales. She found herself holding her breath as she began to tip the flour into the bowl, watching the numbers race up the scale until they hit a few over the required amount. 

“Ok, it’s ok,” India muttered, pretending she was talking to the kitten, who was engaged in washing her face, delicately, but really she was trying to convince herself. Scooping some of the flour back into the bag with a teaspoon, she sighed. “There. Ok.”

In her heart she knew that she really oughtn’t feel nervous. After all, people always said that it was the thought that counted, but on the other hand she had been planning for months to make this a special breakfast for her parents. The important thing was to just get on and do it quietly, so they would be surprised when they did eventually wake up. 

Eventually whipping up a large bowl of batter, she found herself thinking back to the first time she had done this, with her Dad. Loki had watched from the sidelines; that had been back in the days when he had still been a bit sceptical about how electricity and gas cookers worked. Like most teenagers, there were a lot of childhood memories she couldn’t remember very well anymore, but she could picture this one as vividly as if it were yesterday. She could even remember that she’d been wearing black pyjamas patterned with purple flowers. One thing that Loki had always been adamant about was that their daughter would never be stereotypically associated with the colour pink. Her baby clothes had been a range of colours, all shades of the rainbow, not much different to her current wardrobe. 

In a way, India was glad about that. She did like the colour pink, but it wasn’t her favourite. Actually, she didn’t have a favourite colour, although she did fall more towards the brighter colours than duller ones when it came to clothes. She hated those films where the girl characters all wore pink and acted extremely girly. Perhaps it was something to do with being raised by two men, but India liked to think of herself as a tomboy, and perhaps later in life, a feminist. 

At any rate, she smiled at the memory, remembering Tom helping her lift the frying pan to flip the pancake, and making a joke about it getting stuck to the ceiling. Thankfully, none had, and India did her best to remember not to get too carried away with the flipping. She knew that Ollie had once tried making crepes in his kitchen when his parents were out and gotten a bit too vigorous, resulting in him having to scrape the pancakes off the wall afterwards. 

“Must not get carried away,” India muttered to herself, buttering the inside of the frying pan, ready for the batter. Switching on the cooker, she sighed as the gas didn’t take light straight away – which sometimes happened – and reached for the firelighter. At the sight of the flames, Chocolate jumped up onto the table with a startled hiss. 

“Shh!” India whispered, listening out for any sounds from the top floor. Finding none, she carried on, pouring the batter into the pan and watching in fascination as it quickly solidified. Sometimes it fascinated her, cooking, the fact that raw ingredients all mixed into one bowl could then be turned into something edible with just a matter of the right amount of heat. Like magic, she reflected; for that was what she had always thought as a child. 

It was rather a large batch of batter she had made, and she quickly became so carried away with making as many pancakes as possible from it that she failed to notice Chocolate inching closer and closer to the open carton of milk she had left on the kitchen counter, until too late. 

“Chocolate!” she hissed, but too late. With one nudge of a paw, Chocolate had knocked the entire carton over, splashing milk everywhere. “Oh, no!” India muttered, switching off the cooker and scooping up the carton in one hand and the kitten in the other. “Trust you!” she muttered to Chocolate, who looked extremely proud of herself and licked her nose with a tongue like sandpaper. Shaking her head, India fumbled for some kitchen roll to mop up with before dropping the kitten back onto the chair. “No more of this,” she hissed, pretending to be cross, although it was hard to be cross with something so cute for long. Sometimes she wondered if that was why she didn’t get into trouble with her parents very often. 

Putting the now half full carton back into the fridge, India decided to turn her attention to something a little less destructive; getting the lid of the syrup tin. This was no easy feat, because it was in the kind of tin that required using a screwdriver as a lever to open it, and then suddenly, without warning, the lid popped off, shot upwards and stuck firmly to the ceiling. 

Trying not to laugh, India glanced up at it and breathed out. “Well,” she muttered, “the kitchen ceiling needed redecorating anyway.”

Picking up the bowl of batter, she turned, forgetting that she’d left a square of kitchen roll soaking up the milk on the floor and went to get back to the cooker. Unfortunately, as she put her foot on the paper towel, it suddenly slipped along the floor, taking her with it. India let out an automatic yelp as she was thrown off her feet and landed hard on her back on the kitchen floor. The bowl shot out of her hand and she quickly threw up both her arms to shield her face as it landed, tipping the batter all over her. 

Pushing the bowl off her, India shook her arms, which were now coated in the batter, as well as some additional flour which had been stuck at the bottom of the bowl and tried to clean herself up. Why was it, she wondered, that no matter how hard you tried in life not to make a mess, you just ended up making a mess anyway? 

“So much for being quiet,” she muttered to Chocolate, who had sprung onto the kitchen counter and was eying her curiously. 

“You alright, sweetie?” Tom had just stumbled into the kitchen and was crouching beside her. Behind him, India saw Loki, who looked like he’d just literally jumped out of bed, rubbing his eyes. 

She sighed and indicated the mess around her. “Happy Anniversary. It was meant to be a surprise.”

“What; the surprise being you’ve wrecked the kitchen?” Loki asked, glancing around the place. Even as he said it, the syrup tin lid finally fell down from the ceiling, landing in the bowl of batter, drawing both men to glance up in case any more followed it. 

“No,” India sighed, clambering to her feet, and wishing desperately for a shower. “I was trying to make breakfast.”

Tom chuckled and kissed the top of her head, the only part of her not covered in batter and flour, it seemed. “Well, it was a nice thought.”

Turning to Loki, who was smiling at her, India held out her arms, imploringly. “Far?”

With a snap of his fingers, she was clean again, and so was the kitchen. With a guilty grin, India scooped Chocolate off the counter. “Sorry about the mess. I was just trying to be quiet so I wouldn’t wake you guys.” 

Tom grinned as he picked up the bowl. “Well, now that you have, what do you say we finish up here so we can all eat? Without magic,” he added, sternly, glancing at Loki. “After what happened last time.”

Loki merely raised his eyebrows. “I think you’ll find that that mess pales in comparison to the one she just made.”

India laughed and then went to join her Dad at the cooker. Loki leaned against the counter, watching, with a certain amount of justified pride. When he had first heard how Thor’s time on Midgard had changed him, he had scoffed at the idea that such a strange planet could have that effect on anyone. But now, watching his lover and their daughter set about, engaged in the human act of preparing breakfast by hand, he could see just how wrong he had been. Life on Midgard could be just as fun and exciting and enjoyable as life on Asgard.

Even if it was a little messy from time to time.


	8. Frostbite?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> India screams for the first time when her fingers start turning blue!

India rarely went in for screaming. 

Even when she was a baby it had mainly been whimpering and crying, but never screaming. As a child, she might yelp, shriek at the top of her lungs or even shout out loud if she saw something that frightened her, or if someone crept up behind her and yelled “Boo!” when she was least expecting it. But she didn’t scream when she got frightened by something; mainly because she hated the way her voice pitched like a pathetic heroine in a black and white film and the way the air tore at her lungs when she did it. 

But on this particular occasion, she just couldn’t help herself. 

Loki was in his favourite chair with an open book in his lap, absorbed in the story as their daughter sat on her bed upstairs finishing off her Maths homework. Tom had just come in and just as they were striking up a conversation about their respective days, the sudden alarming sound of their daughter screaming, cutting through the air like a knife and leaving an eerie silence in its wake, caused both men to whip around at once, all trace of calmness now shattered. 

“India!” 

Tom was up the stairs two at a time with Loki in his wake. They both tumbled into the room at the exact same time to find her standing by the bed with her hands raised up in front of her face and shaking violently with fright. 

“Have I got frostbite?” she cried, whipping around to face them. 

Loki breathed out and stepped towards her to take her hand. Holding it up, he examined the blue tinge spreading across her fingers; a shade of blue he had seen so many times before it no longer alarmed him. “No, darling,” he said, with a reassuring smile, and then a sigh as he glanced at Tom. “I thought it would skip over her.”

Tom stepped forwards. “Jotunheim form?”

“Sorry, what?” India asked, looking from one to the other. 

Tom stepped forwards and pulled her into a hug. Loki ran a hand through his hair. Since their daughter had been born with a perfectly normal human skin colour, he had assumed that the true Jotunheim form he possessed hadn’t passed into her genes. It seemed he’d been mistaken, now it was finally starting to show itself. Of course she knew nothing about his Jotunheim form, even though she knew about him being a Frost Giant by birth, because he had kept it hidden for so long from her. It had been something he and Tom had discussed after her birth, upon seeing that she had been born white, not blue. 

“It might terrify her,” he had insisted to Tom. 

“She’s going to have to find out one day,” Tom had pointed out.

“Perhaps, but for now, it’s best if she doesn’t know,” Loki had replied, adamantly, and the matter had been dropped. 

Now, however, it seemed the time had come to show her what Frost Giants really looked like. Tom was glancing at him over the top of India’s head, an obvious “Tell her” look. With a nod, Loki took a deep breath. 

“Sit down, India,” he said, motioning her towards the bed. Together the three of them sat down, India in the middle. Praying that she wouldn’t freak out, Loki began his explanation. 

“You remember when you first found out about your magic?” India nodded. It wasn’t a day she was likely to forget in a hurry. It was the day she had been playing outside in the snow on her own and accidently frozen next door’s rabbit. (Thankfully Loki had managed to unfreeze the thing and restart its heart before the neighbours found out anything had happened.) After that, they had sat on the sofa and he had explained, a little like he was doing now, that she had inherited his magic and that, as the daughter of a Frost Giant Prince, she had the ability to manipulate ice and snow. He hadn’t gone into detail then about the Frost Giants, just that they were beings from Jotunheim. Really, he supposed, that was all she had needed to know; he had assumed, correctly, that Tom wouldn’t thank him for giving their four year old daughter nightmares about the “Jotunheim Demons” as he had come to think of them. “Well, my magic, and your too now, it seems, conceals what I looked like when I was born; my true Jotunheim Form. I had hoped that the gene would have missed you, being half human, but it seems I was wrong.” 

India glanced at her hands, her normal skin colour slowly replacing the blue at the ends of her fingertips until it was concealed again. “So...Frost Giants have blue skin?”

Loki nodded. Tom looked up at him. “Don’t just tell her, show her,” his eyes were saying. Loki averted his eyes. India turned her hands over, watching as she willed the colours to shift from white to blue to white again. Then she looked up at her Far. “Show me?”

Closing his eyes to prepare himself, Loki stood up. Tom, of course, had seen this before. He had insisted on Loki showing him one night, insisted that he would love him no matter what his true form. The thing was, though, it was one thing for your lover to accept such a thing, but another thing for your child to. From the second she had been born, Loki had worried about her; he had had the usual worries about being a good parent, the same as Tom but he had also worried about her accepting him as her parent. The thought of her rejecting him because of this, the form he hated even Tom seeing, was painful and he awaited her reaction with bated breath as he willed the Form to show itself to her for the first time. 

What happened next stunned him, both literally and figuratively, as something suddenly cannoned into him, almost knocking him off his feet. For a second he thought that India had freaked out completely and started attacking him. But then he realised it was quite the opposite. 

He opened his eyes to see her clinging to him tightly, like back when she was a child, one of those hugs she would give when she felt like he or Tom had been away from her for too long. Realising what this meant brought a lump to his throat; their daughter wasn’t running away, but accepting it completely. 

“Am I going to look like that?” Her voice was surprisingly bright when she said it. He had expected such a question to be filled with dread, even disgust, but no, it was filled with something that sounded like eagerness, like when she had first asked to keep her kitten. 

Fighting down the urge to cry, Loki took a deep breath. “It’s up to you. You can conceal it...or embrace it. Probably best if you don’t let anyone else see it, though.”

India nodded, understanding. Her parents had always taught her to keep her magic under wraps; neither of them wanted her labelled as some kind of “abnormality” given that humans could be so shallow sometimes. Changing back into his usual form, Loki returned her hug, his heart swelling with pride that their daughter had grown up to be so sensible and loving under their care. 

With a smile, Tom got to his feet and joined the hug. “We love you,” he murmured, kissing the top of their daughter’s head. 

“I love you guys too,” India murmured back, tightening her grip on Loki as she reached back with one hand to pat Tom’s arm. “Although this new trick does make you look really boring now, Dad.”

Loki laughed. “Don’t be cheeky,” Tom pretended to scold, cuffing her, lightly. He shook his head at Loki. “I don’t know, one taste of Jotunheim and she’s let the power go to her head.”

With a grin, Loki glanced over at the bed where India had left her schoolbooks. “Don’t think this counts as an excuse not to do your homework, young lady.”

“Aw, Far!”

“No, no, you still have to do it.”

With an exaggerated sigh, India extracted herself from the hug and clambered back onto the bed to pick up her book. “Ok, how’s this for Maths? One top actor plus on Jotunheim Prince who can do magic equals me. Plus on cat equals our brilliant little family.” 

“I think that’s Maths that even Frost Giants can do,” Loki mused, kissing the top of her head.


	9. Lasagne, Crumble and Coriolanus - Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes when your parents have a rough patch they just need a push in the right direction...from their child!

Things had been a little rough in the calm tranquillity of their household lately. Not that India could blame either of her parents for being a little off with one another; after all they had both had a lot on their plates recently. Tom was rehearsing a new play and Loki had, rather reluctantly, been recently, and much to Odin’s chagrin, roped into helping Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three out in a small battle for peace and justice within Vanaheimr. They had, thankfully won, and Loki had returned to his family barely scratched, but India knew that it had taken its toll on him just like the play was taking its toll on her Dad. As a result of the stress they were both feeling, India felt like she was treading on eggshells around them all the time, and that was nothing compared with the way they felt around each other. 

But tonight, she decided, things were going to be different. 

It was all arranged, and as she hung up the phone to Amy, she heard Tom’s Jag pulling up outside the house. “Right on time,” she muttered, and then, grabbing her bag in one hand and her cat carrier in the other – with a mewling Chocolate already inside – she darted from her room. Passing the door to her parents’ room, which was ajar, as it usually was when one of them was inside taking a nap, she called “Far, I’m going to Amy’s! I’ll be back later!”

Loki jerked awake at once, and then, blinking sleepily, realised what she had just said. Scrabbling to his feet, he reached the door just as India was bounding down the stairs. “What about your dinner?” he asked.

India shrugged with a grin. “I’ve already eaten! Bye!”

“But hold-!” He was cut off as she pulled the front door shut behind her. Tom glanced up in surprise as he shut the front door of the Jag in time to see his daughter bounding up to him. “Hi, Dad, going to Amy’s, love you!” she reeled off, leaning up to kiss him on her way past. “I’ll see you later!”

Tom blinked as she darted away from him, down the road, but by the time he thought to call after her she was too far away from him to hear. Wondering what in the Hel was going on, he made his way into the house, meeting Loki halfway as he descended the staircase. “What just happened?” he asked, still bemused by the energy their daughter seemed to possess. 

Loki rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know; I was asleep and then she just-”

He broke off as they both took in the transformation that had taken place in the dining room. The lights had been dimmed whilst the table had been covered with the tablecloth usually reserved for special occasions, and laid out with two plates, two sets of cutlery and two glasses with a bottle of red wine and a candlestick in between them. There was also a white envelope, addressed “Guys,” India’s preferred pet name for them as a pair, lying on one of the plates, which Tom picked up and opened. Loki came to peer at it over his shoulder as Tom unfolded what was inside, a single piece of folded paper; a letter in their daughter’s rather sprawly writing. 

“Hey, Guys, I thought you might need an evening to yourselves, so I’ve gone ‘round to Amy’s, with the cat, because Ben had the idea of a film marathon, just the four of us. Dinner’s in the oven. Dessert’s in the fridge. Coriolanus is in the player. Don’t worry about me, I’ve already eaten. Judy,” that was Amy’s mother, “said she’ll drop me off after the marathon. Enjoy. Love, India.”

Bemused, Loki went to open the oven door. “When did she learn how to make lasagne?” he wondered aloud. 

“Probably ‘round about the same time she learned to make apple crumble,” Tom answered, pulling the dish out of the fridge. 

Inexplicably they both laughed. “I suppose,” Loki said, glancing back at the set table, “she’s been a bit worried about our constant snapping at one another lately.”

“Well, we have both been under a lot of pressure,” Tom replied, closing the fridge door. He glanced at the lasagne which was still piping hot, India having cooked it beforehand and left it in the oven to stay hot. “Fancy testing her culinary skills?”

Loki grinned. “You took the words out of my mouth.”

There was no need for apologies, really. All the tension that had been hanging in the air like fog over the course of the last couple of days felt suddenly lifted as they made swift work of devouring their daughter’s lasagne. It was like they were on a first date all over again. Actually, Tom found himself likening it to the days not long after India had been born, after Loki’s mood swings had finally died down. Not that he hadn’t been sympathetic, after all, the pregnancy had thrown his lover’s hormones all over the place, and of course the labour itself had been painful. He could remember a time when India had been twelve and they had watched an episode of some hospital drama where a woman had given birth. India had always accepted the story that her Far could change form and therefore had been able to carry and deliver her exactly the way a woman would without question; after all she had known about his magic from an early age, but the show had tweaked her interest in the process somewhat.

“Alright,” she had said, “I don’t care if you two do want grandkids. I am never going through what that woman just did.”

“It’s not always that painful,” Tom had tried to reassure her. 

“Speak for yourself,” Loki had retorted. “She certainly was.”

India had given him an innocent smile. “Was I difficult?”

“Very,” Loki had replied, to which Tom had clouted him around the back of the head with admonition of “You don’t say things like that to your own children,” and then India had laughed, and Loki had responded by catching hold of her and tickling her mercilessly, and when she had yelped out “Dad, help!” Tom had responded by tickling her feet, to which she had gone on to yell “Not him, me! Get off you bullies!” until they had all fallen about on the sofa laughing. 

If Tom was perfectly honest, then he would admit that Loki did seem to have been in a Hel of a lot of pain during the delivery. But once it was all over and done with and everything had settled down, things had gone back to the way they had before, the usual level of romance, with the added addition of parenthood thrown into the mix.

And this was just like that all over again. 

Neither of them could suppress a smile at her choice of film, either. When it came to picking films, India knew what their favourites were, but Coriolanus was a close second favourite for all of them. So, after finishing off the delicious dinner she had left them, and after Loki had taken care of the washing up with a wave of magic, prompting an eye roll without comment from Tom, they both collapsed onto the sofa and switched the television on. It was the BBC version from the eighties, with the old-fashioned sets and period costumes; both men preferred the older adaptations of the Bard’s works than the newer ones that used contemporary setting and modern day dress, both felt that such changes took the magic out of the plays. 

Both watched the fight scenes intently, as if for the first time, both remembering what it was like to come out the other side splattered in blood, both the fake and the real kind. And both automatically leaned forwards in their seats during Coriolanus’ death scene, a scene that Tom had learned backwards, and a scene that felt all too familiar to Loki, having faked something similar that time on Svartallfheimr in front of his brother. And both leaned back in their seats afterwards, feeling like they had had as much of Shakespeare as their brains could take tonight. 

“So, how was your day?” Loki asked, presently. 

Tom laughed. “Isn’t that what you should have said when I came in?”

Loki shrugged, a mischievous look in his eyes. “Must have slipped my mind.”

Shaking his head, Tom stretched out on the sofa. “Yeah, well, it was pretty stressful. There were problems with the lighting and then we have to wait around for a scaff-tag, so everyone was restless. Hardly got any work done in the end.”

He grinned as Loki loomed over him, like the powerful God he was, teasing him, tantalizingly. “Well, I’m sure I can find some way to take your mind off all that stress.”

“I’m sure you can,” Tom teased back, before allowing Loki to close the distance between their lips. 

India, for her part, was full of beans when got out of the car, later that night. “Thanks, Judy,” she grinned, gathering her cat carrier from the back of the car. “And, thanks for the lasagne and the crumble.”

“Don’t mention it,” Judy replied with a knowing grin. “Think they’ll be alright now?”

“Yep!” India hoisted her bag over her shoulder and skipped towards the house, waving to the car until it was out of sight. Then, as quietly as she could manage, she let herself in, opening the carrier on her way in so a rather haughty Chocolate could leap to the ground and pad into the kitchen with her tail in the air. Straightening up, India glanced at the sofa, and couldn’t help the small coo of “Aw!” that escaped her at the sight of Loki and Tom cuddled up together on it, both dead to the world.

Feeling like she had suddenly slipped into the parent role, India pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and tucked it around them. Then, with a satisfied grin, she dropped a soft kiss on both their foreheads, just soft enough not to wake them, and flicked the light off before tiptoeing from the room to pick up her cat.

“My work here is done,” she murmured, smugly, wondering how they could have possibly bought the fact that a their daughter, whom they had known for fourteen years, a girl who had problems cooking toast, had suddenly managed to cook up a lasagne and an apple crumble.


	10. Almost Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom thinks about his relationships with Loki and India.

Tom couldn’t suppress a smile as he turned over a page of the new script, remembering something one of his fellow actors had said about his character the night before. 

“Jeez, this guy has more mood swings than a pregnant woman!”

He wasn’t wrong, Tom agreed, silently, thinking back to what it had been like when Loki had been expecting. It seemed like ages ago now, but some conversations and moments of those nine months still stood out vividly in his mind. For Loki the whole thing had been nine months of cravings, mood swings and in some places, pain; all three of which had made him, for want of a better word, crabbier than usual. He could remember one incident in particular that had stood out, an argument that had started over something so small and trivial that he couldn’t even remember what it was now, but the apologising afterwards was as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. 

He had been sitting on the sofa, reading, his lover left upstairs to rest after the intense heat of their argument had left them both with the need to cool off. His mind had kept wondering, thought, from the story to other matters, like did they have milk, would Loki start craving anything that would be impossible for him to get hold of in Great Britain, would everything be alright with their child when it was born, was it going to be boy or girl...and then he had sensed suddenly that he wasn’t alone. Looking up in surprise he had seen Loki leaning in the doorway, looking like he was trying to ward off another Braxton Hicks contraction, with one hand pressing against the small of his back and the other resting on his rounded stomach.

Tom had straightened up at once. “Hey,” he had greeted him, cautiously. “Thought you were taking a nap.” 

“Tried,” Loki had replied, making his way over to the sofa, and Tom had quickly swung his legs to the floor to give him room as he lowered himself cautiously down onto it. “Failed.”

“Why; is something wrong?” Tom had asked, slightly panicked at the thought. 

Loki had scowled before he could stop himself. “No. This little one.” He had rubbed his stomach then. “Won’t settle down.”

Tom smiled. “Perhaps they know it’s almost time to be born.”

“Perhaps,” Loki agreed, and then he lay down, partly because he was tired and partly because he wanted to be close to his lover again, with his head in Tom’s lap. “Sorry about earlier.”

“That’s ok.”

“No; it’s my hormones. They’re all over the place at the moment. One minute I’m normal, and the next one little thing upsets or annoys me and I seem to turn into Thor’s friend The Hulk.”

Tom stifled a laugh. “Almost, Loki. He had his nice moments.”

“Shut up,” Loki muttered, half-heartedly, letting out a sigh as he felt the baby kick again. “Don’t get me wrong; I’m looking forward to being a parent but I’m not going to miss carrying her after what she’s putting me through.”

“From what I hear, the actual labour’s going to be worse than the pregnancy,” Tom replied, and then frowned. “Wait; she? How do you know it’s a girl?”

“Instinct,” Loki shrugged. 

“What makes you think it’s not a boy?” Tom asked. 

“Please! The strength she’s kicking?” Loki laughed. “No; she’s definitely a girl.” He paused, thoughtfully, and then sat up. “A girl who’s craving chocolate right now.”

Tom grinned. “Tell her to sit tight and her Daddy’ll get her some.” He paused, laying a hand on Loki’s stomach and feeling the baby kick again, a sense of paternal pride swelling up within him, and he smiled. “I love you,” he murmured, and then, glancing to Loki, “Both of you.”

Loki grinned at him. “Well, we’d both love you even more if you’d hurry up about getting that chocolate for us.”

Biting back a laugh, Tom flipped through to the next page of the script, where his lines were marked up. Not for the first time, he wondered if Loki hadn’t somehow known beforehand that India was going to be a girl; not that he thought he had gone to the doctor’s without him, but rather used some sort of mind-reading or psychic power to discover the sex of their unborn child. Or whether he really had had the maternal instinct most expectant mothers claimed to get and had simply been able to tell from that. At any rate, they had both been glad that she had been a girl. A boy would have been nice too, of course, but there was just something about having a daughter, their little princess, that somehow seemed more appealing. 

She wasn’t spoiled, though. Loki had seen to that; neither of them had wanted to raise her as a brat, in spite of her status as the daughter of a Prince, and she never acted like one, she was just their sweet, loving, feisty India, with the same magic as her Far in her veins. Everyone who met her seemed to love her, although, of course, Odin hadn’t spent enough time with her to learn to properly, having only met her briefly when she was born. He never visited them, but Tom knew that Loki wasn’t too bothered by that. It was, after all, inevitable, he supposed; their relationship had been damaged a long time ago and it was probably beyond repair. But that didn’t matter. There were plenty of other people in their family to love their daughter, though, of course, none as much as her parents. Their little family unit; the four of them, him, Loki, India and now the cat too, was perfect, just the way it was. 

“What are you looking so happy about?”

Coming back to Earth, Tom glanced at his lover. Far from sleeping peacefully as he had been a few moments ago, Loki was propped up on one elbow, head propped in his hand, wide awake, eyebrows raised as he awaited the answer. 

Tom smiled and set down his script. “Just reminiscing.” 

“Um, guys?”

They both sat up straight, frowning at one another. That was India and she sounded panicked. 

“Indy?” Tom called.

“I think I froze next door’s rabbit again!”

Of course both men shot from the bed and all but tumbled into the kitchen where India sat on the kitchen table, swinging her legs and grinning at them. “Only kidding. It’s April First today.”

Well, almost perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sorry; next time will be longer, I promise!


	11. We Are...Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a crisis like this, India knows there’s only one chance to save Tom; but what will Loki think?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Hey, guys, I know it's been a while. Truth is I've had this one on hold for months now, but tonight I just decided to go for it and see what happens!)

 

“You’re really going to do this?” Ollie asked.

 

“It’s the only thing I can think of,” India replied.

 

Ben looked over her shoulder and shuddered at the sight of the tall, imposing man who had just walked into the cafe’. “Your Far’s not going to be happy.”

 

“What else can I do?” India asked. “You didn’t see him last night, he was so broken up inside he could barely function. I’ve never seen him like that before.” She bit her lip. “I’ve gotta do it. For Dad.”

 

Amy reached over and squeezed her hand. “Good luck.”

 

“Yeah, we’ll be with you in spirit,” Ollie added.

 

“We’ll be with you for real if it starts to turn ugly,” Ben agreed.

 

The thought of Ollie and Ben trying to take on the AllFather single-handed made India smile for the first time in five days. “Thanks, guys,” she muttered, getting to her feet.

 

Even in the guise of an ordinary Midgard man, Odin cut a rather imposing figure in the tiny cafe’ where India had requested him to meet her. It was less risky than at home, and besides she usually hung out here with her friends if they had a spare hour or two with no homework at the weekends, give her parents a break every now and again.

 

Thoughts of her parents brought a lump to her throat but she quashed back the tears and took a deep breath to steady herself. She had to remember that, whatever else, she was acknowledged as a Princess of Asgard, she shared Loki’s blood and his mother and brother still saw him as their kin even if he technically wasn’t, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

 

Even so, her legs were slightly unsteady as she made her way towards him.

 

“AllFather,” she greeted him, cordially.

 

“You’ve grown, Princess,” Odin replied, nodding at her.

 

India fiddled nervously with the hem of her T-shirt. The last time she had met her Grandfather, she had been half the age she was now, and that had only been after a lot of coaxing from Tom and Frigga that the AllFather ought to at least see his granddaughter whilst she was still young, otherwise she might forget that she even had one. Loki, of course, hadn’t been too happy about having Odin in their house, but somehow he had managed to hold in his irritation and the meeting had been somewhat successful.

 

“I need your help,” she said, finally.

 

Odin raised an eyebrow. “With what, child?”

 

“It’s Dad...I mean, Tom...” Again, tears threatened to overwhelm her but she bit them back. “He’s in hospital, I mean, it’s a great big Healing Room...”

 

“I know what a hospital is,” Odin cut in, not unkindly. He looked genuinely interested now. “What happened?”

 

“There was an accident on Monday, on the road, when he was coming back...” India took a deep breath. “This lorry just came out of nowhere and ploughed right into the car. The driver seems alright, he got away with a broken leg, I think, but Dad...he’s in intensive care...blood loss, IV lines, the whole lot...Far’s with him now, but...it doesn’t look good...” She shuddered and then looked up at him. “Can you help me? Please? I know you and Far don’t always see eye to eye anymore, but you can’t have any reason for letting Dad...” Odin’s face remained impassive. “Please?” India begged. “If you can? Far says Asgardian medicine can cure anything.”

 

After a brief moment, Odin asked “Where is this hospital?”

 

“Just down the road,” India replied.

 

Odin nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

 

He turned and walked out of the cafe’. The second he was gone, the others hurried up to her. “Well?” Amy asked, gently. “What did he say?”

 

“I think he said yes,” India replied, watching the dust settle in the street where Odin had left the cafe’ in his dramatic stride.

 

Over in the special unit of the hospital, Loki sat willing the still form of his lover to wake up, even if it was only to pick a fight with him about whose turn it was to wash up or something. The thought almost made him smile. Almost.

 

“I finally fixed that cupboard,” he said. “You know, I said I was going to. It didn’t take long.”

 

No response, not that he’d really been expecting any.

 

Loki sighed. He wasn’t used to feeling this vulnerable, even around his family. Last night he had done his best to put a brave face on things, not let India see that he was actually dying inside, tried to reassure her that everything would be alright, even though he wasn’t holding out much hope. Midgardian technology might be good, but it wasn’t as good as magic, although his magic couldn’t fix this. Tom needed Asgardian medicine for that, and there was no way on Midgard that Odin would let him just waltz into Asgard and take some, of that he was certain, nor would he allow Frigga or even Thor to give it to him.

 

So instead he was forced to endure the sight of the strong, cheerful man he loved lying as helplessly as a wounded soldier in battle in from of him, his life slowly slipping away and him unable to do anything.

 

“Please, Tom,” he murmured, even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good. “I need you. India needs you. Don’t let me do this on my own.”

 

A gentle tap on the door brought him out of his sorrow and he looked up, hopefully, expecting to see the doctors or another nurse standing in the doorway. All hope quickly turned into a combination of confusion and irritation, however, when he saw who it was and he quickly got up from his chair, arms folded, his pose typically defensive.

 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, doing his best to keep his tone even.

 

“Your daughter called on me,” Odin returned, bluntly.

 

Loki frowned. “What?”

 

“She called to Heimdall through the Bifrost that she wanted to meet with me,” Odin replied, turning his eyes on the room. “Now I see why.”

 

Loki closed his eyes. “She asked you for help?”

 

“She did.”

 

“Well?”

 

Odin moved past him and stood beside the bed, looking down on Tom. Automatically, Loki stiffened, getting ready to defend his lover should it become necessary, not that he really believed that Odin would do anything untoward inside a Midgardian hospital but still, you could never be sure.

 

“I might not pretend that I understand your feelings for this mortal, Loki,” Odin stated, calmly, “or your relationship with him, but I can see how much he means to you.” He turned to his youngest son. “And together you do a good job of raising your daughter. She’s becoming a fine young woman.”

 

“I know that,” Loki replied, coolly.

 

Odin thrust a hand inside his cape, disguised as a mortal jacket, and drew out a bottle of cream-coloured liquid which sparkled with magic as the light hit it. Loki’s eyes widened although he didn’t move to take it until Odin stepped forwards and held it out to him. His hand was almost on it when he stopped and looked questioningly at the AllFather, searching for the catch.

 

“Go on, take it before I change my mind,” Odin told him.

 

Loki took the phial, his heart racing, and then shot forwards to empty the entire contents into Tom’s IV line. Odin said nothing, merely watched as the medicine flowed through the plastic tubing into the mortal’s veins and disappeared from their sight. Tom’s body glowed, slightly, as it took effect and then the light died.

 

Loki breathed out and reached for his lover’s hand. It felt warmer than before, a sign that the medicine had worked, this was no trick, Odin had actually saved Tom’s life.

 

He turned to face the AllFather.

 

“What was it that made you help us?” he asked.

 

“No child should have to lose one of their parents so young, Loki,” Odin stated. “Plus...he makes you happy, at least your mother and Thor tell me so.”

 

Loki said nothing, that is, until he felt Odin move towards the door, and then he ventured a polite “Thank you.” Odin turned towards him and Loki glanced up, showing that his expression was genuinely grateful. “I don’t know what we would have done otherwise.”

 

Odin nodded, slowly. “Maybe...when he’s recovered, the three of you could...come to dinner...sometime?”

 

Loki smiled, gently, the kind of smile he usually only reserved for Tom or India. “I know India would love that.”

 

Odin managed a smile back before slipping through the door and disappearing from view. Loki felt the pressure, light, against his hand and he turned to see Tom blinking up at him, those beautiful eyes he had missed for five whole days.

 

“Look who’s back in the land of the living,” he smiled.

 

Tom managed a feeble smile back, casting his eyes about the room. “Where’s India?”

 

“Amy and the boys came and took her to the cafe’,” Loki replied, fondly, his eyes never leaving Tom’s for a second. “Actually, they practically had to drag her away.”

 

Tom chuckled, his voice raspy with under use. “So, will I live?”

 

“I’d say the Norns are smiling on you right now,” Loki replied, using light humour to mask just how panicked he had really been. By some mental telepathy, Tom seemed to know, however, because he squeezed Loki’s hand tightly, a reassurance of his presence. Loki realised then that he wasn’t annoyed with India for having called on Odin for help, rather...impressed, proud even. Because she had known, of course, that he would have been too stubborn to go down on his knees and beg for the AllFather’s help, she had done it for him, she had been the bigger person, and now because of it, because of her strength, Tom would live.

 

 _When I next see her,_ he resolved, before leaning over to kiss Tom, _I am going to give her the biggest hug possible, and tell her that I've never been prouder to be her Far._


	12. Hay Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family spend a day at Hay Festival...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short drabble, I promise I'll do a longer chapter next time.

Teleporting in a crowd was always far easier than teleporting in a deserted area, because no one ever noticed when people just showed up out of the blue in the midst of a crowd, and as ever Hay Festival was always crowded, crammed with people who shared one common interest, a love of reading, so Tom had to admit that this was one time when Loki’s skills came in handy.

 

“I’m never going to get used to that,” he muttered, as usual.

 

Loki rolled his eyes but said nothing, simply because he didn’t have time because India was already weaving her way towards the bookshop and he was quick to follow her. In a place like this, they knew, it was always best to keep an eye on your children, they could get lost so easily.

 

“Slow down, India,” he laughed, catching up to her. “They won’t sell out of books in five minutes.”

 

By the time Tom caught up with them, India had already created a great pile of books that she was having a hard time balancing by herself. He quickly ran to give her a hand, and just in time too, since the pile was dangerously close to overbalancing her.

 

“Careful!” He caught hold of the top ones, smiling fondly at his daughter as she blew up her fringe. One thing he could never begrudge her was her love of reading, and naturally if she wanted to buy this many books he wasn’t going to stand in her way. “Let me take some of those.”

 

“Thanks, Dad,” India smiled. “I promise I’ll carry them out myself.”

 

“You know that promise doesn’t mean anything when your Far’s just going to magic them to the car when we leave anyway,” Tom smiled back.

 

“Good thing too,” India replied, glancing over her shoulder. “You should see his pile.”

 

Tom looked over to see that Loki’s pile of books wasn’t so much a pile as a tower. Eventually, the God of Mischief looked over to see his lover watching him with an amused expression.

 

“What?” he asked.

 

“Nothing, just between you and her, we may have to stop on the way home and buy a new bookcase,” Tom replied.

 

India began to giggle as her father manoeuvred his way into the queue. Half an hour later, they all managed to wriggle out of the shop again, bags laden with so many books they could barely walk...at least until Loki was able to discretely “magic them back to the car” as Tom put it.

 

“Where do we go now?” he asked.

 

Tom checked their programme. “The Tata Tent for the Shakespeare talk, then we’ve got a couple of hours to kill before that storyteller India wants to see-”

 

“We _have_ to go to that?” Loki muttered.

 

“Shush,” Tom muttered back.

 

India, however, had very sharp hearing and she spun around. “What? She’s one of my favourite authors.”

 

“And then,” Tom added to get them back on track, “we’ve got another half hour break before the poetry lecture.”

 

India grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I can’t wait to see Ben doing that.”

 

“Should be good,” Tom agreed.

 

They quickly made their way to the correct tent, Loki glaring daggers when the ticket man gave Tom too friendly a smile, only to be stopped from setting the man on fire by Tom quietly pointing out that the man was probably jealous that Loki had already claimed him first, and found seats towards the front with a good view of the stage. The talk ended up being funnier than any of them had anticipated, and even Loki could appreciate the humour of it. Afterwards they went for lunch, Tom lightly scolding Loki when he used a spell to make another family want to vacate their seats earlier than planned so they could have somewhere to sit, and spent the rest of their free time browsing around the other stalls before making their way to the Barclays Tent for the storyteller.

 

“You owe me for this,” Loki muttered.

 

“I’ll do anything you want once she’s asleep,” Tom muttered back.

 

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Is that a promise?”

 

Tom flushed. “Maybe...” He noted the mischievous look on his lover’s face and squirmed a little in his seat. “Please not here...”

 

“Fine,” Loki whispered, sending shivers down Tom’s spine. “I’ll wait until tonight.”

 

When the event was over, they waited patiently for India to get her book signed before seeking out the tent where the poetry lecture was going to be held. India was gushing about how nice her favourite author was as she hugged her book to her chest, and it made both her parents smile to see her so ecstatic.

 

“Someone’s going to sleep well tonight,” Tom murmured.

 

“She’d better,” Loki muttered back, sending him a meaningful look that set Tom flushing again.

 

The poetry lecture covered all poets of the romantic period, and had several guest speakers reading extracts from famous poems, Tom’s good friend Benedict being one of them, which was good because afterwards the family were able to talk and catch up with him for a while.

 

“Can we do this again next year?” India asked when they finally left, leaning happily against Loki who had her tucked into his side protectively as they made their way into the crowds again.

 

“You ask that _every_ year,” Tom laughed. “But yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (For those who don’t know, Hay Festival is a literary festival originating in the tiny town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales – the country next to England for those who think it’s actually in England – held every May, although it’s also held in other parts of the world too, and usually big name celebrities get roped into giving readings or lectures, such as the aforementioned Benedict Cumberbatch)


	13. Those Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom is awkward about having sex talks with his daughter. Loki on the other hand had no problems...

"Dad, what's a quickie?"

 

Tom almost dropped the plate he had just finished drying. Tentatively, to make sure he had heard right, he asked "What?"

 

"Quickie," India repeated, looking up from what she was reading. "It's here in my book."

 

Tom walked over with a mutter of "What the hell are you reading?"

 

India smiled. "Nothing weird, Dad, one of the characters said it about his brother, but he doesn't say what it means."

 

"It means having sex quickly," Loki replied, bluntly, not even looking up from his own book. "Hence the name."

 

India frowned as Tom glanced at his lover. "Well, I wouldn't have put it quite like that."

 

Loki just shrugged, completely unfazed.

 

"How does that work, though?" India asked. "I thought sex had to last about fifteen minutes."

 

Tom recognised the line from Grease as he slid into a seat opposite her. They were in for one of "those" talks, it seemed. "India, did you actually pay attention in PSE?"

 

"Not really," India shrugged. "All they talked about was putting a condom on a banana, and I really don't see what that's got to do with sex."

 

Tom rubbed his temples, despairingly, as Loki chuckled. "You explain it," he muttered.

 

Loki shot his a scowl. "Because..?"

 

"Because you're better at it than me," Tom sighed.

 

Loki closed his book with a sigh and then leaned forwards in his chair. "India, they were just using a banana because they didn't want to show you...well, you know, for real."

 

"Oh." India nodded. "So, you don't actually put a banana-?"

 

"No!" both men yelped.

 

She giggled. "I didn't think you did."

 

"Well, some do if they've got a fetish for-" Loki began, slyly shooting Tom a glance.

 

"Loki!" Tom cut in.

 

"She has to learn some time."

 

"What's a fetish?" India asked.

 

"It's when someone likes having sex a certain way," Tom said before Loki could come up with a dirtier explanation, and knowing Loki he had been on the verge of doing just that. "And that's all you need to know for now.”

 

India still looked confused but she didn’t bother to ask, much to Tom’s relief. Some days he still couldn’t get over how quickly she was growing up, and how conversations like this were becoming more and more frequent in their household.

 

“Still don’t get how you can have sex quickly,” she muttered, turning back to her book.

 

Tom took a deep breath, deciding on the easiest way to explain it to her, even though it was causing him to flush deeply just thinking about bringing it up with her. “Alright, you remember that scene in the Night Manager, that one that made you feel very awkward?”

 

“The first one or the second?”

 

“The second.”

 

“Mm.”

 

“Well, that would qualify as a quickie.”

 

“Oh.” India nodded. “Ok, I think I get it now.”

 

Loki wrinkled his nose, as he often did whenever that subject came up. “I wouldn’t have thought that even qualified as sex.”

 

Tom flushed deeper as India giggled. “It didn’t exactly look romantic.”

 

“Alright, can we please stop talking about Jonathan Pine’s sex life, please?” Tom insisted, pushing his chair back. If anything, bringing up the subject made Loki even more possessive of him than usual, the thought of his lover pretending to initiate sex with someone else, even if it was just for work and especially when it was with a woman. Tom had a feeling that he would be in for a rather overly-passionate night of love-making tonight.

 

“Mm,” India murmured, eyes back on her book. “Still can’t believe he actually gets Jed in the book, I didn’t like her very much.”

 

“Nor me,” Loki replied, flickering his eyes to his lover.

 

“You only didn’t like her _because_ of that scene,” Tom pointed out.

 

Loki scowled. “No, she was a slippery character anyway if you ask me.”

 

India giggled. “You know, it’s funny when you two bicker. Not so much when you argue, but when you bicker like this...” She smiled. “Makes me glad I’ve got you two for parents instead of what everyone else thinks is normal.” She got to her feet and kissed Tom’s cheek with a murmur of “Thanks, Dad,” before leaving the room.

 

Tom breathed out. “Glad that’s over.”

 

“I know,” Loki murmured, flicking another page of his book. “You were getting very hot under the collar there. I thought I was going to have to hose you down.”

 

“Was I that obvious?” Tom smiled, glancing at his lover. “You know, you don’t have to get jealous when I’m doing a sex scene; it is just an act.”

 

“I don’t get jealous,” Loki scowled, “I just like to remind the world that you’re mine and no one else’s.”

 

Tom reached over and took Loki’s hand. “I still can’t get over how fast she’s maturing.”

 

“I know,” Loki agreed. “But then I suppose we can’t really expect her to stay our little girl forever.”

 

“No,” Tom replied, “and we do do a good job of raising her.”

 

“Hey, guys?” India called from upstairs.

 

“What?” Loki called back.

 

“What does kinky mean?”

 

Both men sat bolt upright.

 

“Burn that book?” Tom guessed.

 

“Burn that book,” Loki agreed.


End file.
